Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty
ATHENS—Greece is expected to legalize same-sex weddings this week, in a vote due to be held the day after Valentine’s Day. Not everyone is feeling the love, however, and the Greek church has become an outspoken and powerful rival to the changes.
Even though the bill isn’t forcing the priests to marry gay people and has nothing to do with the church, it is church officials who have been the loudest opponents, with bishops appearing on television programs making outdated and false accusations, calling homosexuality a mental illness and suggesting that gay men and women are sick and only the church can heal them.
When the bill passes, Greece will be the first Christian Orthodox country with strong roots in religion to allow same sex marriage.